Part I: Literary Terms, Part I

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. literature
    writings in a particular style on a particular subject
    We use the word literature, in a broad sense, to mean compositions that tell stories, dramatize situations, express emotions, and analyze and advocate ideas.
  2. imaginative
    marked by independence and creativity in thought or action
    Literature may be classified into four categories or genres: (1) prose fiction, (2) poetry, (3) drama, and (4) nonfiction prose. Usually the first three are classified as imaginative literature.
  3. prose
    ordinary writing as distinguished from verse
    Prose fiction, or narrative fiction, includes myths, parables, romances, novels, and short stories.
  4. narrative
    consisting of or characterized by the telling of a story
    Prose fiction, or narrative fiction, includes myths, parables, romances, novels, and short stories.
  5. myth
    a traditional story serving to explain a world view
    Prose fiction, or narrative fiction, includes myths, parables, romances, novels, and short stories.
  6. parable
    a short moral story
    Prose fiction, or narrative fiction, includes myths, parables, romances, novels, and short stories.
  7. romance
    a medieval narrative about the adventures of a chivalric hero
    Prose fiction, or narrative fiction, includes myths, parables, romances, novels, and short stories.
  8. novel
    an extended fictional work in prose
    Prose fiction, or narrative fiction, includes myths, parables, romances, novels, and short stories.
  9. narration
    a telling of a story in writing, drama, or cinema
    The essence of fiction is narration, the relating or recounting of a sequence of events or actions.
  10. poetry
    literature in metrical form
    If prose is expansive, poetry tends toward brevity.
  11. imagery
    the use of vivid sensory language in literature
    Although poems themselves vary widely in length, individual lines are often short because poets distill the greatest meaning and imaginative power from their words through rhetorical devices such as imagery and metaphor.
  12. metaphor
    a figure of speech that suggests a non-literal similarity
    Although poems themselves vary widely in length, individual lines are often short because poets distill the greatest meaning and imaginative power from their words through rhetorical devices such as imagery and metaphor.
  13. sonnet
    a verse form of 14 lines with a fixed rhyme scheme
    Traditionally important poetic forms include the fourteen-line sonnet, as well as ballads, blank verse, couplets, elegies, epigrams, hymns, limericks, odes, quatrains, songs or lyrics, tercets or triplets, villanelles, and the increasingly popular haiku.
  14. ballad
    a narrative poem of popular origin
    Traditionally important poetic forms include the fourteen-line sonnet, as well as ballads, blank verse, couplets, elegies, epigrams, hymns, limericks, odes, quatrains, songs or lyrics, tercets or triplets, villanelles, and the increasingly popular haiku.
  15. blank verse
    unrhymed poetry, usually in iambic pentameter
    Traditionally important poetic forms include the fourteen-line sonnet, as well as ballads, blank verse, couplets, elegies, epigrams, hymns, limericks, odes, quatrains, songs or lyrics, tercets or triplets, villanelles, and the increasingly popular haiku.
  16. couplet
    a stanza consisting of two successive lines of verse
    Traditionally important poetic forms include the fourteen-line sonnet, as well as ballads, blank verse, couplets, elegies, epigrams, hymns, limericks, odes, quatrains, songs or lyrics, tercets or triplets, villanelles, and the increasingly popular haiku.
  17. elegy
    a mournful poem; a lament for the dead
    Traditionally important poetic forms include the fourteen-line sonnet, as well as ballads, blank verse, couplets, elegies, epigrams, hymns, limericks, odes, quatrains, songs or lyrics, tercets or triplets, villanelles, and the increasingly popular haiku.
  18. epigram
    a witty saying
    Traditionally important poetic forms include the fourteen-line sonnet, as well as ballads, blank verse, couplets, elegies, epigrams, hymns, limericks, odes, quatrains, songs or lyrics, tercets or triplets, villanelles, and the increasingly popular haiku.
  19. hymn
    a song of praise, especially a religious song
    Traditionally important poetic forms include the fourteen-line sonnet, as well as ballads, blank verse, couplets, elegies, epigrams, hymns, limericks, odes, quatrains, songs or lyrics, tercets or triplets, villanelles, and the increasingly popular haiku.
  20. limerick
    a humorous rhymed verse form of five lines
    Traditionally important poetic forms include the fourteen-line sonnet, as well as ballads, blank verse, couplets, elegies, epigrams, hymns, limericks, odes, quatrains, songs or lyrics, tercets or triplets, villanelles, and the increasingly popular haiku.
  21. ode
    a lyric poem with complex stanza forms
    Traditionally important poetic forms include the fourteen-line sonnet, as well as ballads, blank verse, couplets, elegies, epigrams, hymns, limericks, odes, quatrains, songs or lyrics, tercets or triplets, villanelles, and the increasingly popular haiku.
  22. quatrain
    a stanza of four lines
    Traditionally important poetic forms include the fourteen-line sonnet, as well as ballads, blank verse, couplets, elegies, epigrams, hymns, limericks, odes, quatrains, songs or lyrics, tercets or triplets, villanelles, and the increasingly popular haiku.
  23. lyric
    a short poem of songlike quality
    Traditionally important poetic forms include the fourteen-line sonnet, as well as ballads, blank verse, couplets, elegies, epigrams, hymns, limericks, odes, quatrains, songs or lyrics, tercets or triplets, villanelles, and the increasingly popular haiku.
  24. tercet
    a rhythmic group of three lines of verse
    Traditionally important poetic forms include the fourteen-line sonnet, as well as ballads, blank verse, couplets, elegies, epigrams, hymns, limericks, odes, quatrains, songs or lyrics, tercets or triplets, villanelles, and the increasingly popular haiku.
  25. triplet
    a rhythmic group of three lines of verse
    Traditionally important poetic forms include the fourteen-line sonnet, as well as ballads, blank verse, couplets, elegies, epigrams, hymns, limericks, odes, quatrains, songs or lyrics, tercets or triplets, villanelles, and the increasingly popular haiku.
  26. villanelle
    a 19-line poem with a fixed form and two refrains
    Traditionally important poetic forms include the fourteen-line sonnet, as well as ballads, blank verse, couplets, elegies, epigrams, hymns, limericks, odes, quatrains, songs or lyrics, tercets or triplets, villanelles, and the increasingly popular haiku.
  27. haiku
    an epigrammatic Japanese verse form of three short lines
    Traditionally important poetic forms include the fourteen-line sonnet, as well as ballads, blank verse, couplets, elegies, epigrams, hymns, limericks, odes, quatrains, songs or lyrics, tercets or triplets, villanelles, and the increasingly popular haiku.
  28. epic
    a long narrative poem telling of a hero's deeds
    Epic poems, such as those by Homer and Milton, contain thousands of
    lines.
  29. free verse
    poetry that does not rhyme or have a regular meter
    Since the time of Whitman, many poets have abandoned rhymes and regular rhythms in favor of free verse, a far-ranging type of poetry growing out of content and the natural rhythms of spoken language.
  30. drama
    the literary genre of works intended for the theater
    Drama is literature designed for stage or film presentation by people—actors—for the benefit and delight of other people—an audience.
  31. actor
    a performer in theater, television, or film
    Drama is literature designed for stage or film presentation by people—actors—for the benefit and delight of other people—an audience.
  32. audience
    a gathering of spectators or listeners at a performance
    Drama is literature designed for stage or film presentation by people—actors—for the benefit and delight of other people—an audience.
  33. character
    an imaginary person represented in a work of fiction
    The essence of drama is the development of character and situation through speech and action.
  34. situation
    a condition or position in which you find yourself
    The essence of drama is the development of character and situation through speech and action.
  35. speech
    communication by word of mouth
    The essence of drama is the development of character and situation through speech and action.
  36. action
    something done (usually as opposed to something said)
    The essence of drama is the development of character and situation through speech and action.
  37. dialogue
    the lines spoken by characters in drama or fiction
    Although most modern plays use prose dialogue (the conversation of two or more characters), on the principle that the language of drama should resemble the language of ordinary people as much as possible, many plays from the past, such as those of ancient Greece and Renaissance England, are in poetic form.
Created on Fri May 28 15:01:01 EDT 2021 (updated Mon Jun 07 12:02:10 EDT 2021)

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